The countdown is on until Strictly 2021 is back on our screens and one celeb we can’t wait to see sashay onto the dancefloor is Greg Wise, who’s most well known for playing John Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility and, more recently, Lord Mountbatten in The Crown.
“I have never even dreamt of trying to do something like this. It's all about challenges and about living slightly out of your comfort zone” Greg said, ahead of the Strictly launch show.
“I’m the oldest one, I'm the granddad” he jokes. “I'm interested in working hard and trying something completely new and seeing if this body will be able to do what's asked of him. I've got to try and emulate Mr Bailey from last year, because I think we're the same age.”
Luckily, the 55-year-old is good friends with the comedian who won the show last year and reached out to him when he was asked to take part for some advice.
“One of the things that he told me, which I have done, is to get my patent leather ballroom shoes already and wear them around the house, because I think he had a bit of a problem with blisters on his heel. So I'm trying to get my feet as hard as possible before we start. He was very helpful.”
Despite having 30 years worth of acting experience, Greg says that dancing isn’t something he’s highly skilled in, so it’ll be a step into the unknown.
“I did a film 10 years ago called Walking On Sunshine, which was a musical film and I did a number of seconds of a tango, but no more than that. If I've been doing period films and been required to dance, it's the sort of line dancing, where you literally just walk around, so this is all uncharted territory.”
Would he consider a Sense and Sensibility themed dance if he made it through to movie week?
"I don't know if there's a sense and sensibility themed dance, it's just walking around in circles” he says. “It's like a really slow motion bit of Scottish country dancing. I could do that, absolutely, but I don't think we'd get scored very highly.”
It was during his time on set of Sense and Sensibility that the actor met fellow British actress and now-wife,Emma Thompson, who Greg says encouraged him to take part in Strictly, as he initially declined.
“I told my dear lady wife when they'd asked me and that I'd said no and she said ‘you're mad you've got to do it!’. She's been filming solidly since January and we'd planned a really nice autumn, we were actually going to have our first holiday in seven years together. Then over the space of a five minute conversation the entire autumn was kicked into the long grass and here I am.
"She's thrilled because she'll be able to relax and watch every Saturday night, or as many Saturday nights I survive.”
One thing the actor is most nervous about is actually hurting himself. “I'm very, very, very accident prone. I tend to fall off things and trip over things, so I've just got to be very aware of all of that and be on my best behavior.”
In terms of his dancing partner, Greg’s hoping he’ll be paired with someone who will take charge.
“I need bullying and I want to try and spend as much time as possible rehearsing. That's the great thing as well about the work we do; the more you've come prepared, the more you rehearse, the more you know where you are and the more opportunity you have going to a whole other place. Hopefully we will get to that, but it may take a few weeks.”
Is he in it to win it and to follow in the steps of his chum Bill Bailey?
“No, I'd love to survive as long as possible. I'd love to do as well as I can do. It's how I approach everything, just try and do what you can do. I hope that I'm able to stick as long as possible, because I think it's going to be a lot of fun.”